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Guide to Living and Traveling in St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city! Amazing classical architecture, bridges, canals, museums, palaces and cathedrals. It's the perfect place for a photographer and perfect for walking. It's a big city but most things happen in the center (which is quite big). Everything is walking distance or a few bus/metro stops away.

- Infrastructure: Excellent. Very easy to move around with buses, trolleybuses, trams and metro. There's also Uber and it's super cheap. Most rides in the center are about $2. Metro/bus ride is $0.50

- Weather: Not the best. It's chilly for this time of the year. It's been cloudy and rainy many days. But when it's sunny, it's really warm. Average temperature ranges from 15-18 degrees. At night it can get down to 10-12 so you definitely need a jacket. I hope it warms up in July. They say there's a week or two where it gets to upper 20's or even 30. We'll see. Weather has been the worst part of my stay so far.

- Language: Very little English is spoken. Most young people know basic words but are too afraid to even try to speak. It's great though if you are learning Russian, you feel forced to throw out whatever Russian you have. The ones who speak English actually have a pretty good level. ​

- Cost: It's high season now so it's expensive. A decent studio in the center where I am costs $ 800/month. Further away you can find much cheaper up to half the price but then you would have to take the metro all the time to the center. What I mean by decent is it's renovated because most buildings are old.

I live in a modern big shared flat (student apartment) with 8 rooms and 3 bathrooms and I pay $350/month. My place is right in the heart of the city as I got tired of looking for studios further away. I spent one week searching and living with Russian students which helps too. It's quite private and I have a big room.

- Food: Russian food consists mainly of salads, potatoes, soups and meat. I eat at a restaurant called Stalovayas (buffet service where you just ask them to serve you what you want) and typically spend about $4-$6/meal. It's the cheapest option and very filling. There are plenty of high end restaurants but they are obviously more expensive.

-Nightlife: Not so impressed so far in terms of variety of venues. More bars than clubs here though. I've been out most nights checking out the same places. Draft beer: $2-2.50Glass of wine: $3-$3.50Shot of vodka: $1.50Alcohol is very cheap in stores (specially the local stuff like vodka).

This was a guest travel post by my friend Alejandro who is currently based in St. Petersburg, Russia.

(JosephLe.com note: Check back for ongoing updates to this post. Leave any comments or questions below regarding travel to St. Petersburg and Alejandro will do his best to answer them.)

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